Advertiser Editorial: Defence and mining boom in SA's grasp
May 01, 2009 09:15pm
FOR some time, South Australians have been promised the state is on the brink of a mining and defence boom.
Today, the shape of that promise has become much clearer.
The Defence White Paper, to be released today, commits to building 12 new submarines in Adelaide. This huge project cements the ASC site at Outer Harbor as the centre of Australia's defence shipbuilding. Already, a thriving defence industry in this state has been built, largely on the back of the construction of six Collins class submarines at ASC and the pioneering research at the Defence, Science and Technology Organisation's Salisbury campus.
Coupled with the multi-billion dollar construction of three air warfare destroyers at ASC - a project for which preliminary work has already begun - this assures the state's defence future for decades. Spin-off industries will be created, just as they were from the original Collins class contract - a project that started more than 20 years ago.
Similarly, the blueprint delivered yesterday for the expansion of Olympic Dam is not simply a plan to build a bigger mine. It is a blueprint for the transformation of our state.
The superlatives come so fast it is easy to be overwhelmed - by far the biggest-known source of uranium in the world, the fourth-biggest copper deposit in the world, Australia's biggest gold mine, the biggest open-cut mine in the world, electricity needs to match half the state's demand, huge new water sources, railways, ports, tens of thousands of jobs.
The changes needed to translate these facts, figures and forecasts into reality will reach deep into South Australian society. Servicing the workforce that will firstly build and then operate the mine will involve everything from education to manufacturing to transport to professional services to real estate.
In the public consultation phase that has now begun, legitimate concerns will be brought to light and valid suggestions made. But this phase should be approached from an in-principle belief the project is of benefit to the state, despite legitimate problems that will be raised.
Take water. In principle, it is a great concept to build a desalination plant at the seaside that eases the demand on the mine's current source, the Great Artesian Basin, and allows the State Government to piggyback on top and supply the Eyre Peninsula with water, easing the demand on the hard-pressed Murray River and thereby benefiting the whole state.
Of course, it is not a simple proposal. Hypersaline discharge near precious cuttlefish breeding grounds and aquaculture sites is a serious problem. But, surely, we are clever enough to solve these and other problems, not walk away from them as being too hard.
This does not mean we should buckle to every demand of BHP Billiton, big as it is. It is still the South Australian people's ore and it is our right to decide what happens to it.
Yet, if we - the public, the company and the Government - together exercise patience, clarity and ingenuity and get this right, it will deliver prosperity to SA for decades to come.
We owe it to future generations to make sure we do exactly that.
Responsibility for all editorial comment istaken by The Editor, Melvin Mansell,31 Waymouth St, Adelaide, SA 5000
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